Grand Rapids, Mich. — Making their first showing at the WHAC Tournament since 2015, the Aquinas baseball team didn't just want to make an appearance. The Saints were eager to make some noise.
No. 4-seeded Aquinas did exactly that with a 9-5 upset win over No. 3 University of Northwestern Ohio in the Pod A pool play opener on Thursday (May 4) to guarantee a second day in the tournament. The Saints (30-22 overall) also hit the 30-win plateau for the first time since 2006.
Host No. 2-seeded Madonna then beat UNOH, 11-0, to end the Racers' season at Ilitch Ballpark in Livonia, Mich.
The nightcap on Thursday featured the battle of the two unbeatens with Madonna getting the better of Aquinas, 7-4. The same two teams will now meet again on Friday (May 5) to decide who will advance to the WHAC Tournament Championship Series next week.
Game 1: Aquinas 9, UNOH 5
The Racers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning following a solo home run by Darius Freeman to right field and an RBI double by Justice Panton. AQ starting pitcher
Conor Gausselin, an All-WHAC Second Team selection, found his groove from that point on.
After four scoreless innings, Aquinas finally broke through with a seven-run fifth inning.
Dane Smitz started things off with a two-run double.
Jake Paganelli added an RBI single to give AQ a 3-2 lead before
Chase Ingersoll drew a bases loaded walk.
Nathan Wilcox delivered a single to center field to bring in two more runs. Last, but not least,
Luke Lacross reached on fielder's choice that allowed Ingersoll to score.
AQ had six of its nine hits in the fifth inning. UNOH picked up 13 hits in the contest but couldn't string together clutch at-bats. While the Racers only left five runners on base, UNOH grounded into three double plays.
Josue Ortiz hit another solo home run for the Racers in the seventh to cut AQ's lead to 7-3. But, the Saints responded with two runs in the eighth inning following a bases loaded walk to
Mark Binkowski and a Paganelli RBI sacrifice fly.
Freeman bookended UNOH's scoring with a second home run in the bottom of the eighth that capped the final score at 9-5. Gausselin was pulled shortly after, going 7.2 innings and allowing five runs on 12 hits. Reliever
Tyler Zomerlei picked up the final four outs and only faced five batters to do so.
Four Saints finished with two hits: Smitz, Paganelli, Wilcox and
JD Gillies. The first three also had two RBIs and a walk.
With the win over UNOH, Aquinas avoided playing the next game of the tournament and the Saints watched the Racers get blanked 11-0 by Madonna. That abruptly ended UNOH's season and set the stage for a best-of-three game series between the Crusaders and Saints to decide the winner of Pod A.
Game 2: Madonna 7, Aquinas 4
Playing loose and with nothing to lose, the Saints grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Paganelli smacked his team-leading 10th home run of the season to right field.
Madonna answered with an RBI groundout in the bottom half to even the score and then hit their own solo home run, courtesy of Matt Staelgraeve.
Paganelli swung back with a two-run blast in the fourth inning. His second home run of the game gave the Saints the lead back at 3-2. It didn't last long as the Crusaders loaded up the bases in the bottom half. The tying run was walked in before Madonna pushed two more runs across on an RBI single by Jake Zeeb and an RBI sacrifice fly, 5-3.
The Crusaders scored three runs on just one hit after AQ gave away three walks and a hit by pitch in the fourth inning.
Aquinas pulled back within a run in the sixth inning as Ingersoll singled and an error in the outfield allowed Binkowski to score all the way from first base. But, right on cue, Madonna scored two more runs in the bottom half to keep the Saints at-bay. Anthony Sharkas hustled around the bases for a two-out, two-run triple to give the Crusaders a 7-4 advantage.
The Saints grounded into an inning-ending double play in the seventh, and then went down 1-2-3 in the eighth and ninth to drop their first game of the conference tournament.
AQ starter
Mason Hill (7-5) was dealt the loss after lasted 3.1 innings. Zomerlei,
Nathan Esch and
Josh Avink cleaned up the rest of the innings. Riley Vermander (5-3) picked up the win after six innings of work. Brandon Rice earned a nine-out save.
Besides Paganelli's two home runs, only Binkowski, Ingersoll and
Dawson Shearer were able to pick up singles, as the Saints were outhit 8-5. Madonna did commit three errors, but produced enough offense to cover up the mistakes.
Aquinas returns to action tomorrow (May 5) needing to beat Madonna twice at their place to eliminate the Crusaders and advance to the WHAC Tournament Championship Series being held May 8-9. The first game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. from Livonia, Mich., with the if-needed game to follow shortly after if the Saints win.
